Our Research

What determines the decisions that we make? How do humans and animals use information in the environment to make choices, and how do choices change over time?

Ongoing research in our lab investigates the behavioural mechanisms underlying choice. Our projects investigate how the environment influences choice; how humans and animals use information to make decisions; the effects of information reliability on choice; how choice changes when the environment changes; and how to model quantitatively choice behaviour.

This research extends our knowledge on the factors that influence choice and decision-making, and can help us to understand better why people make the decisions they do, and how we might implement interventions that encourage people to make decisions that will lead to better, healthier outcomes in the future.

How and why do consequences, like reward and punishment, affect our behaviour?

Consequences, like reward and punishment, play an important role in shaping human and animal behaviour across the lifespan. In our lab, several research projects focus on understanding the effects that consequences have on behaviour. Our lab has been at the forefront of a shift in our understanding of how consequences affect behaviour – rather than “strengthening” past behaviour, consequences provide information about how to behave in the future (“signalling”).

In addition to this groundbreaking research led by Emeritus Professor Michael Davison, Professor Douglas Elliffe, and Dr Sarah Cowie, other projects examine how rate, probability, delay, and magnitude influence how effectively consequences change behaviour; how behaviour changes when consequences change; and whether humans and animals can detect whether their own behaviour caused a reward or punisher.

How do environmental stimuli and consequences affect cognitive processes, like attention and memory?

At the intersection of behavioural psychology and cognitive science, we are investigating the environmental factors that play a role in shaping and guiding cognitive processes, such as attention, memory, and perception. Using an experimental behaviour-analytic approach, recent projects in this research area investigate how information in the environment guides attention and memory; whether reward influences attention allocation just like it guides choice; how reward and punishment influence short-term memory; and how to model quantitatively the effects of reward on attention and memory.

How can we enrich the lives of our animal research subjects, and maximise their welfare in captivity?

Our research lab uses animal models to investigate behaviour. These animal models are valuable because animals have controlled learning histories, and they participate in experiments in a tightly controlled environment, allowing us to examine specific mechanisms of behaviour closely.

The welfare of our animal subjects (pigeons) is of paramount importance, and they are very well taken care of – with their own vet nurse and on-call vet service! We also have ongoing enrichment initiatives that aim to maximise their welfare, and to understand what contributes to a healthy pigeon in captivity.

Learn more about LambLab, a project investigating what makes for the happiest, healthiest, and most productive dairy sheep →

How can we translate and apply findings from experimental studies to clinical practice? 

Translational research in our lab explores how findings from experimental studies can be translated and applied to clinical practice. This research extends experimental procedures to natural contexts, and investigates clinically relevant behavioural phenomena in experiments with humans and animals. For example, recent work has extended findings demonstrating the ‘signalling’ properties of consequences to children; and investigated the mechanisms underlying stimulus overselectivity (restricted information use) with application and relevance to autism spectrum disorder.

This translational research is conducted in collaboration with research students, academics, and behaviour analysts from the Applied Behaviour Analysis programme at The University of Auckland. Ultimately, the goal of such research is to provide a deeper understanding of behaviour in its natural context, and to inform the development and improvement of behavioural interventions that are used to change behaviour in clinical practice.